Working Long Hours Is More Complicated Than What People Believe

In the article “ The Busy Trap” Kreider tries to convince readers to chose time over money. He makes numerous points including how boasting about busyness takes the form of a complaint. He insults those who voluntarily take on obligations by remarking that they are obsessed with always being occupied. However, the basis for such a conclusion is founded on only a few examples of individuals who were negatively affected by the burden of work. In Kreider’s opinion it is wasteful to be busy all the time because life is too short to work more than 5 hours per day and not spend enough time in one’s happy place. What is your happy place? Picture it and stay there for a while letting your thoughts flow. Notice that your thinking becomes more positive and somewhat out of reach. Next, imagine a life with minimal stress that includes little to no work and much enjoyment; now you 're floating back to reality because that type of life is not in the grasps of most. Similarly, Kreider writes his article as if most people have plenty of time to waste, and to enjoy themselves, as he has. Kreider’s overall point that people keep themselves busy to escape the feelings of emptiness is both ignorant and a reflection of his narrow perspective of the world. His opinion that people feel apprehensive when not working, along with the fact that most people wouldn’t be content living the lifestyle Kreider is promoting, plus his support towards the propositions of full unemployment and a

“He worked himself to death, finally, and precisely at 3:00 am Sunday morning.” Although humans need a purpose in life, those who live on the clock often find himself being controlled by the clock, perishing in the process. In “The Company Man,” Ellen Goodman criticizes Phil’s workaholic attitude to showcase her disapproval toward our society based on work.

As the future approaches, automation and technology are quickly evolving and diminishing the amount of jobs available for Americans. American work-life has evolved drastically over the years. Certain jobs are being replaced by drones and robots, leaving many Americans unemployed. It has caused a slight shift in how we work. However, the continuation of work is still alive. In the article “A World Without Work,” (2015) the author Derek Thompson expresses how people are losing their jobs. Nevertheless, they’re using their hobbies and talents to generate money. Someone might sell their poetry and written work when they have lost their job generating income while also fostering creativity. President Nixon’s “Address to The Nation on Labor

Roszak makes a point in his essay about jobs being our salvation, where he describe there is no end to a working life. Roszak describes the waste of time in people’s jobs and that most employees don’t even put all of their effort into them. He figures

When employed labor is involved, productivity in terms of time becomes important, because the employer generally pays the worker in terms of time. For many jobs, then a shift from task-orientation to timed labor occurs, as the laborer’s time becomes the employer’s money. Thus, a separation between work and leisure occurs, as

Everyone in the world wants and needs to make money one way or the other. People in the world say that money is not everything. Money does not equal successs. Money does not It give back themselves an oppurtunity to feed themselves, or enjoy the luxuries that America has to offer. When reading Wilson's Article, “When work disappears” According to the trading economies in the United States of America, the US unemployment rate was recorded at 4.9 percent in August of 2016, which not been changed two months prior. 7.8 million people in the United States are without jobs. Making it hard for an Average American to live comfortable. William Julius Wilson’s article “When Work Disappears” discusses the disappearance of work in the industrialized

The theme of overemployment is a current problem in the United States. Americans are overworked. Workload has increased and society has experienced a loss of leisure. Overemployment and overworked can be defined as negative effects that occur when individuals are required to work more hours than they want to work. “Personal perceptions of workload are critical, as individuals have diverse reactions to the number of hours worked depending on their needs, lifestyle, expectations, and experiences. Individuals have different tolerances for demands and stress. While many, including professionals

American entrepreneur, Steve Jobs, once said: “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” Some people may take a job out of necessity rather than being passionate about their work. You have to love what you do as you spend more time working than being with loved ones. In Studs Terkel’s Working, adapted by Harvey Pekar, the reader is presented with visual adaptations of the lives of ordinary Americans that show how they feel about what they do for a living ranging from farmers, miners, barbers, box boys, and a hooker are some of the jobs mentioned in the novels. The author gives the

Tokumitsu confirms that employees can resist being controlled by companies because “doing what you love” (DWYL) goes directly against corporations (2). By “DWYL” it promotes employees to break away from the company and to do something that makes them happy. Although Tokumitsu says how great it is to “DWYL” she claims that there is a negative side that is destructive to others by saying “DWYL distracts us from the working conditions of others while validating our own choices and relieving us from obligations to all who labor, whether or not they love it” (2). This means that people who “DWYL” become only concerned with themselves being happy and do not care about the other workers who have terrible jobs. The mantra “DWYL” opposes both Hochschild’s and Davies’ views on what takes place within the workplace. Davies and Hochschild claim that employees have either accepted the “emotional labor” placed on them or simply will not show up to work. Neither Hochschild nor Davies have ever discussed whether employees are able to truly “enjoy” working unless management gives workers certain incentives. As a result Tokumitsus shares the views of Hochschild and Davies about how corporations are effecting employees’ emotions but has

Therefore, the work schedule of the majority of Americans is greatly time-consuming and restrictive in how their life is like. Employment is restrictive in the sense that it doesn’t allow for much free time for Americans to do things in their life how they would like. Hochschild states, “But without overstating the case, it seems true that capitalism is a cultural as well as an economic system and that the symbols and rituals of this cultural system compete with, however much they seem to serve, the symbols and rituals of community and family.” (Hochschild 187) Most Americans are employed around capitalistic ideas of efficiency. Employers require employees to commit long hours, days, and years of their life to working for them. Employers also seek maximum efficiency in the time that employees are working. This commitment that employees make to their employment takes away from things that they value as mentioned by Hochschild. Unfortunately, Americans are forced to deal with this because they want to establish economic stability for themselves. Furthermore, the work life of

Many people in today’s society find themselves guilty of believing the common misconception that money can buy happiness. They go to school to become a doctor, lawyer, or other high paying job, with money and social status as their only incentives. Many will find that they have fallen into a trap, when they start earning their large salary, but still are not happy. While there were many messages present throughout Studs Terkels Working: a graphic adaptation, the most important reoccurring message seemed to be that having pride and dignity as well as working at a job that fulfills one’s life passion or is simply enjoyable are more important qualities than earning a large salary and having a high rank on the social ladder. The interaction of

In “No Time to Think” and “Time Ain’t Money”, the authors paraphrase how new technology has affected businesses and its workers. In “No Time to Think”, Levy talks about how workers need more leisure time. In “Time Ain’t Money”, Rushkoff talks about how business are having to adjust due to new technology. Both of these authors talk about how Americans are living in a much faster society. In “Time Ain’t Money”, Rushkoff explains how new technology is affecting businesses which helps perceive why Levy talks about in his article “No Time to Think”, how people are over working and have less leisure time due to new technology which explains why we are living in a much faster pace society. Leisure is very important and everyone needs it. Levy explains leisure as down time. “Leisure is a form of that stillness that is the necessary preparation for accepting reality; only the person who is still can hear, and whoever is not still, cannot hear.” (Levy, 67)

Microsoft, HP, Dell, and IBM are large corporations that produce various computer electronics and accessories such as desktop computers, laptops, and keyboards. A factory in China’s Dongguan City, Guangdong province helps to produce computer accessories such as keyboards and printer cases for these corporations (Kernaghan). Workers at the Guangdong factory work much more extensive hours than do Americans. They work twelve hours a day for seven days a week to make five hundred keyboards an hour at a $0.76 hourly wage (Kernaghan). Unlike other prosperous nations, these Chinese workers are not able to enjoy many days off or vacations. Instead, these workers only get two days off a month and if a worker took a Sunday off, he would have his pay docked by two and a half days’ worth of wages (Kernaghan). It is not fair that taking a day off from a hectic, seven-day work week

If you have one hour of work in you must expand that work to fill the eight hour day” (Page, 51). The focus of their work is not working hard but, being able to fill out a whole work day. The work clock has become the focus, because some of the big businesses do not care how much work you put in as long as you complete your eight hour shift. Managing the work place to death is shown here, “If you must make an emergency phone call, ask your supervisor fist.

The corporate culture at Amazon can be described as a task culture according to Charles Handy’s theories of corporate culture, where the main focus is on getting results from the work done. Individuals and teams are empowered to take responsibility and make a contribution. As a result, formal job titles are of less importance, as the emphasis is put on their contribution and problem-solving abilities. (Hoang 194). Amazon has created a sense of belonging and unity within its’ workforce by installing the idea that anyone can contribute. This can be seen through the 14 leadership principles that Amazonians refer to as the “articles of faith”, outlining how employees should act. It is at the core of Amazon’s corporate culture; It’s used in daily rituals, in hiring, at meetings and are quoted in food-truck lines at lunchtime (Streitfeld). Most importantly, it applies to all Amazonians and they are told each one of them is a leader (Sanghani). For instance, the co-inventor of the delivery-by-drone project announced in 2013 was a junior level engineer (Streitfeld). Therefore, the task-oriented culture can be the source of the stressful work-environment stress despite fostering motivation and responsibility within the employees.